Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Panthers Drop Maple Leafs

     The Florida Panthers edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime at BB&T Center on Tuesday night. It was the third game of a season-long six-game home stand for the Cats as they won for the 10th time in their last 13 games.
     Florida(29-25-6) got the lead during their second power play at 11:54. Jonathan Huberdeau had the puck on the end wall and passed to Aleksander Barkov to the left of the crease. His wrist shot went by Curtis McElhinney into the top shelf of the cage for his 21st goal of the season.
     The Panthers extended their gap to 2-0 at 1:42 of the second period. Vincent Trocheck was on the right wing and centered to Huberdeau in the high slot. He bypassed one defender and around the goalie to the left of the crease and dragged in the puck across the goal line for his 19th goal of the campaign.
     Toronto(39-20-7) quickly responded and got a tally at the 2:53 mark. There was a scramble in the crease for a rebound. Kasperi Kapanen made a short pass to former Panther Dominic Moore at the right of the blue paint and he scored from close range.
     The Maple Leafs finally tied the contest with 7:26 remaining in the frame. The Panthers committed a turnover in the neutral zone and William Nylander carried the puck all the way to the slot area. After he was hooked approaching the net, Zach Hyman followed up and put in a snap shot from the low slot by Roberto Luongo.
     In overtime, Florida got the winning goal with 1:13 to go. Aaron Ekblad flipped a rainbow pass from his own zone to Jared McCann at the Maple Leafs blue line for a breakaway. He went through the slot and scored on a wrist shot.

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